A grandfather has grown another giant pumpkin one year after he grew a record-breaking winter squash with his twin brother.
Posing cheerfully, it’s clear five-year-old Etta Syrett is proud of the marvelous pumpkin her grandfather, Ian Paton, has grown in Lymington in Hampshire.
Little Etta has every reason to be impressed by her grandfather’s creation as he currently holds the world record for the heaviest pumpkin.
Last year 65-year-old Ian and his twin brother Stuart, who has since retired, grew a pumpkin that weighed a whopping 1,300kg which is roughly the same weight as two adult bulls.
But the title did not come without an awful lot of care and attention.
The brothers spent about six hours every day tending to their crop of squashes inside a giant greenhouse to control the temperatures and optimise their growth.
The pumpkins take around 130 days to go from the size of a golf ball to the size they are now.
Ian said: ‘They get so big by having very good genetics, not much food actually, but a lot of water, up to 130 gallons of water per plant per day.’
Posing cheerfully, it’s clear five-year-old Etta Syrett is proud of the marvelous pumpkin her grandfather, Ian Paton, has grown in Lymington in Hampshire
He said his granddaughters Etta and Martha even helped in their own unique way.
‘They do get their hands dirty and they love it,’ he said.
‘They even talk to the pumpkins.’
The Guinness World Record for heaviest pumpkin was previously held by Travis Gienger, whose specimen weighed 1,247kg.
Together, the twins have grown 13 title-winning squashes.
